- Waste, Ispra study: serious situation, the sea is a huge landfill, 77% is plastic
- Maker Faire 2019: the most 'sustainable' inventors fair
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by Celia Guimaraes Roma23 October 2019I Jackal, a well-known artistic collective and video production company, starting from Youtube, have conquered all media making parody and satire their distinctive trait.The video on plastic recycling on behalf of a well-known company has not been outdone with their latest creation: they have conquered the public - especially young people - attending the New Plastic Revolution convention, second HITalk appointment, a format created to deepen the topicality projecting it into the future, through the story of successful experiences, a project of the startup accelerator LVenture Group.
Who's afraid of plastic?
Because the pollution debate has put the use we make, above all, of bottles made of non-recyclable material. But the subject is much broader, as underlined by Carlo Alberto Pratesi, professor of marketing and sustainable innovation at the Roma Tre University: it is one thing to use non-reusable materials for containers for "finger food" or the indestructible ear sticks . It is quite different to use plastic to make disposable syringes or disposable contact lenses.
From the serum the bio container
Examples of sustainability are not lacking, as shown by Valerio Miceli, a researcher at the ENEA in Brindisi, who brought the innovation of biodegradable and compostable plastic obtained from the scraps of dairy production, that is to say the cheese whey that is normally thrown away . An example of circular economy and Italian excellence on show also in the 2019 edition of the Maker Faire in Rome.
The microplastics we don't see
Professor Francesca Garaventa, Marine Biologist and Researcher Cnr-Ias, was an expert on the subject of the presence of microplastics in the sea and on the effects on marine organisms, to speak then of the decomposition of plastic in the sea until reaching microscopic dimensions to become a unwanted element of the food chain. Size matters, underlined Garaventa, and we do not yet know how and how much these microplastics are harmful to human health once they are assimilated by the fish and shellfish we consume.
Glass is better? Not always
The problem is not the plastic, it is the man, it is the scientists' conclusion. And the industry also tries to seize the opportunities for recycling and reuse, optimizing production and focusing on the circular economy, for example with mineral waters that in some cases can be sold in returnable glass bottles, but not always this is the most sustainable solution. Suffice it to say that a plastic pet bottle is totally recyclable, if only we consumers used the foresight to dispose of them properly. Such as? The Jackals explain it to us.